Month: December 2016

First time I read an email from Kathy it was one year and a half before her wedding day: after a couple Skype calls she introduced my to her lovely mum who was the one who came first to Tuscany to select the right venue. She was really a big help and took care of every detail of the wedding even of the decorations, as Katy decided to fly to the Emirates to start her new career in a big company.

wedding tuscany- hairdresser at work!wedding tuscany- bride hangers

After a couple of visits to different farmhouses with Kathy’s parent she came back to me with a decision, Villa Elena was the right place for their wedding tuscany. And so a long year and a half of planning started, with options for both a symbolic ceremony at the Villa and a civil one in the amazing townhall of Siena . Time flew by very quick and the big day approached fast so last details were decided directly at the bride arrival in Siena. Kathy had a busy working trip before getting to Tuscany so I didn’t want to stress her with some many details and just and a short meeting in the afternoon to finalize a couple of things.The following day was the big day: the sun was shining around the Chianti hills and everything looked perfect for the blessing in the garden. I took care of the flowers and decoration with the help of Kathy’s mum and when the bride came with her bridesmaids everything was ready for their moment:

Wedding tuscany-bouquet

Wedding tuscany-here comes the Bride!

wedding tuscany-ceremony in the garden

wedding tuscany-ceremony

Ceremony set up-wedding tuscany

Bride and groom going to the vinyards

As the Villa host a very famous restaurant the dinner was prepared by the house chef and was served by the pool. As the sun went down all the guests moved to the area inside for the dance.

As the sun went down it was time to cut the cake and the bride that asked for an ice cream cart enjoyed her favorites gelato while some pictures where taken.

I love every wedding I organize but this was special because I spent many many years of my life living just in front of Casa Elena so still keep good memories of these hills, their colors and their perfumes… Chianti Classico, such a nice place to have your perfect wedding!!

A huge thanks goes to Federico Pannacci www.fedepan.net for the hard work and great job he did with my couple… always a pleasure to work with you guy! 😉

Having to deal with italian bureaucracy is never easy, above all when you have to understand their way of work and don’t know a single word of italian….. this is what wedding planners are for. Your wedding planner should be able to guide you through the different steps of obtaining the legal requirements for your civil wedding before the “most important day of your life” gets closer.

I’ve had so many brides panicking after contacting Embassies, consulates and lawyer that it will take me a full day to write a post so I’ll just tell you about one I had in July: first time Sonia called me I was having another wedding . Of course told her to write me an email as I couldn’t help her in that moment but I was very curious as she was really crying hard at the telephone… so as soon as I came back home, late night, I had a look at my email and oh my God….! she was going to get married in 2 months!! They choose one of the most romantic places in Chianti, a church wedding with more than 100 guests and she had just discovered that she couldn’t do it because her husband already got married by the church in LA!!!

She was italian living abroad and her beloved had Dutch citizenship, living in London with her and still had not registered his divorce in Italy: looked like a hard work but at the end and after couple of visits to priests and local Curia office ( the church office dealing with documents in Italy), we were lucky to obtain the famous Dispensa Arcivescovile ( a kind of document issued by the Bishop) in time for the wedding. Of course this was just the religious side: as they also wanted the wedding to have legal validity she had to go through the Italian Consulate in London to obtain the famous “Pubblicazioni” document and he had to do the same through the Dutch consulate in Rome to get his precious nulla-osta-olanda. Please, if you are thinking of doing the same be prepared to wait a minimum of 1 month as normally Consular documents can take from 1 to 4 months depending on the country of origin.

At the end the Italian Consular section was very kind and they sent all the papers to the townhall in Chianti in time for the wedding to take place but thinking about how stressful all the wedding process has been for the poor Sonia I’l highly recommend you to : 1) ask at least 8 months before the wedding what are the documents required for your country; 2) After confirming this with the townhall you are supposed to get married in, ask how much time in advance do they need the documents. 3) Investigate very well about the life of you husband to be 😉 This is something that even the best wedding planner cannot help you to deal with!!!

Lots of love and kisses xx

Hewelin

PS should you have more doubts about legal requirements, my post Legal requirements for civil weddings in Italy is still good. I’m going to write a new one about other nationalities soon so stay tuned!

Hi I'm Hewelin, I was born in Siena and have worked in hospitality and events in Europe since leaving school. On returning to Siena in 2006 I focused on events for groups: weddings and conferences. My passion became weddings, all the details of the day and making sure that couples have the best day of their lives is what drives me. I speak English, Spanish, French, German and of course Italian so there will be no problem communicating and understanding your hopes and dreams for your big day.

If you would like more detailed information of the services I offer, please email me.

Please let me know the date of your wedding, the area you are interested in, number of guests and I'll do the rest. As I run a very personal service where the weddings are tailor-made to suit your requirements, I would love to speak to you about your hopes and dreams for the wedding. Please include your phone number and a good time to call you.
- Hewelin x